Former Windows Phone general manager, Charlie Kindel moves to Amazon

The name Charlie Kindel should ring a bell or two. The long-time Microsoft employee was part of the Windows Phone team and left Microsoft over a year ago. According to GeekWire, Kindel is said to be on the move to Amazon. After 21 years at Microsoft, including the position of general manager on the Windows Phone team, what's Kindel going to be tasked with at Amazon?

It's not known, and he's reportedly keeping stomped about it all. It could well spark more speculation and rumours that Amazon is looking to ready a mobile platform. Kindel did leave Microsoft to launch BizLogr, which has developed an automated mileage reporting tool for businesses. Amazon has already been rumoured to at least be looking into the development of a smartphone.

Does the market require yet another company to dive into mobile development? It depends on whether Amazon will plan to go down the road on its own, or attempt to enter the fragmented Android market. Kindel announced the move to Amazon on his personal blog, with some truths and April Fool's content. We'll take the leap with others and believe Kindel is indeed joining Amazon.

We previously looked at reports of Amazon testing an upcoming smartphone last year, but we were fairly sceptical with the sheer competition on Android, not to mention iOS, BlackBerry and Windows Phone already being established. Could Amazon pull off a smartphone (or a platform) of its own, or can we look to see more support for current hardware with richer app experiences?

Reader comments

Former Windows Phone general manager, Charlie Kindel moves to Amazon

And to think I thought this guy was cool! Apparently he's nothing but self absorbed and things went sour with MS when they killed his courier project. I hope no one in this forum agreed with him and thought the courier could compete with the likes of the ipad/ipad mini, Nexus tablets, or even the surface pro/rt. The courier ended up being exaclty what it should have been, "An App". He was so resentful that he made the app for competing platforms only; Let's face it, this guy milked the MS cow for all he could then left. One last thing, I guess his startup didn't perform as well as he thought it would and ended up just like the courier project, "DEAD"!

Honestly Everybody involved with WP gave this guy alot of cred but I dont understand why. He dogged out WP on his site, in interviews, and every where else I saw him. Its funny too because he had alot of power to actually do something to help the platform but decided to slam it instead. I bet he will be just as dedicated to Amazon.

I met Charlie on MS campus for a Windows Home Server competition back in 2007 that I was invited to as a contestant, hes a nice guy and was definately passionate about his job and Microsoft. Maybe he just wasnt able to get things done the way he wanted at MS because of how managment is setup, who knows but he definately is smart and was devoted to the job. Theres no reason to bash him just because he choose to work somewhere else.

There are other ex-MS people that have moved-on to other companies and who are treated with respect and fondness by WP fans. It's the way this Kindel character disses WP after he left that irritates WP fans and make them bash him.

Idk much about the Kindel guy or Watson guy either, all I know is that major companies do this all the time...i can't think of one major corporation that has not hired execs from another major corporation including competitors. Google, eBay,Apple, even non/not for profits like the Red Cross. I believe eBay and Google were in litigation about this exec baiting a few years back. Basically if you've managed an exec position at a major company and decide to leave, you either are going to be an exec at another major company or start your own... Other than that I don't really know the guy, did he do great stuff?

Did he really? If so, than he did great, because if there were tiangles or any other shapes beside square, I would have NOT purchased a WP! The square/rectangular tiles fit so nicely together and still provide a clean, crisp, and refreshing look....Triangular tiles would be too weird and not pleasing to the eye for me... :)

I mean who doesnt think amazon is doing a phone. they probably have several prototypes. I also wouldnt call it another fragmented android because it will look almost nothing like android, just like their tablets. this guy isnt coming in to have them put windowsphone OS on amazons new phone.

Hey, not Joe Belfiore! Love the guy's enthusiasm and I'm sure he's doing a great job. WP needs improvements, yes, but if the alternative is using Android, heck, I'd prefer even the first version of WP7.

I keep asking around bit nobody has any news. Did you see the video of the new Bing search voice recognition that MS Research is working on for WP? It kind of gives us a clue about what they might be preparing for later this year.